Goodwin, Wolff advance to US Junior Amateur final

ANDOVER, Kan. (AP) Noah Goodwin advanced to the U.S. Junior Amateur championship match for the second straight year Friday, setting up a title showdown with Matthew Wolff at Flint Hills National.

The 17-year-old Goodwin, from Corinth, Texas, beat Davis Shore of Knoxville, Tennessee, 2 up in the quarterfinals, and topped India’s Rayhan Thomas 5 and 4 in the semifinals.

Goodwin fell 2 and 1 to Australia’s Min Woo Lee last year in the 36-hole final at The Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tennessee.

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”I played great golf in the final last year,” Goodwin said. ”I just have to keep playing my own game and just stick to my game plan and just grind.”

The 18-year-old Wolff, from Agoura Hills, California, edged fellow Oklahoma State freshman Austin Eckroat of Edmond, Oklahoma, 1 up in the quarterfinals, and beat South Africa’s Garrick Higgo 3 and 1 in the semifinals.

”It’s really going to be competitive, probably going to have to make a lot of birdies and minimize my mistakes,” Wolff said. ”It’s going to be a hard-fought match.”